Paper-made composite furniture

ABSTRACT

Paper-made composite furniture comprises at least two connection tubes and at least one spacer that are coupled together. Each connection tube is a hollow tube with an inner side made of spool paper and an outer side made of kraft paper. The connection tube has at least one latch groove. The spacer is a solid panel made of the spool paper with the outer side coated by the kraft paper. The spacer has two sides wedged in the latch grooves of the connection tubes. The spool paper has characteristics to withstand greater loading and pressure, thus can replace the conventional furniture made of woods, plastics or metal. The invention not only can reduce material, transportation and assembly costs, also can reduce environmental pollution and facilitate carrying and assembly during outing. The kraft paper can be formed with colors, patterns or texts, thus can provide greater visual appeal.

This is a continuation-in-part, and claims priority, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/935,179 filed on Jul. 3, 2013, entitled “PAPER-MADE COMPOSITE FURNITURE” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/817,226 filed on Jun. 17, 2010, entitled “ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SHELVING COMBINATION”, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

This application claims the priority benefit of Application No. 098124495 file in Taiwan on Jul. 21, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to composite furniture and particularly to assembled furniture made of paper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a growing awareness of environmental protection in the modern society. In many people's mind the good quality of life is no longer simply pursuing fancy life style or material opulence, but trying to make life more meaningful. Many people nowadays have changed their lifestyle from using expensive goods to those beneficial to the general public, and try to live in a lifestyle that stresses on coexistence of human being and environment.

The conventional furniture, in order to meet consumers' requirements in assembly, disassembly, storage or flexibility in use, generally is made of materials that consume a great amount of wood, metal or plastic materials. And greater sturdiness and durability are the main objective.

However, while wood, metal and plastic materials are sturdy and durable, they cause great harm to environments during production. Wood is natural material, but it grows slowly. During fabrication of wooden furniture inadvertent impact could easily take place that results in scrapes or damages, and spoils the total appeal. Moreover, mending the damaged surface of wooden material is difficult, hence it often happens that the entire set of furniture has to be replaced that causes even more waste of the wood. The steel is heavier in weight and costs more in terms of fabrication, construction and transportation, and also is more difficult to recycle when replacement takes places, hence creates a great impact to the environment. Plastics are easier to form into desired shapes, but also generate a great deal of pollution during production, and decomposition is difficult after discarded, or create even more environmental contamination problems such as air or water pollution if they are treated by burning.

There are furniture made of corrugated paper board on the market, such as chairs or cabinets. They are generally lighter than the furniture made of woods or steel, and less likely to create environmental pollution. But they also have shortcomings, such as deficient in structural strength and easily warp and deform when subject to heavy loading.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,604 discloses an eco-friendly cabinet frame structure which comprises a plurality of coupling tubes, a plurality of panels and a plurality of connector sets that are made from recyclable plastic material. Each coupling tube has a groove on the outer side. The coupling tubes are interconnected via the connector sets. The panels are wedged in the grooves of the coupling tubes, thereby form the eco-friendly cabinet frame structure. However, the coupling tubes, panels and connector sets could be thrown away or burned by people maliciously, thus still create the problems of environmental pollution and non-decomposition.

Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,562 discloses a composite storage rack consisting of flat panels and ribs that use three-layer fiber boards with a middle layer made of kraft paper mixed with resin. But the fiber boards are formed by compression of wooden fibers at high pressure, hence are heavier in weight. Moreover, to make the fiber boards moisture-resistant is expensive. All this creates a great burden to consumers in terms of transportation and cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to solve the disadvantages of the conventional paper furniture in material and technique by providing novel paper furniture assembled by connection tubes and spacers formed by compression of multi-layer spool paper and multi-layer kraft paper.

To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention provides paper-made composite furniture which comprises at least two connection tubes and at least one spacer that are coupled together. Each connection tube is a hollow tube with an inner side made of spool paper and an outer side made of kraft paper. The connection tube has at least one latch groove. The spacer is a solid panel made of the spool paper with the outer side coated by the kraft paper. The spacer has two sides wedged respectively in the latch grooves of the connection tubes.

By means of the structure set forth above, the invention provides many advantages, notably:

1. The paper-made composite furniture is made of paper, hence can be recycled easily without generating environmental pollution.

2. The invention employs the spool paper which is lighter in weight and sturdy, hence can be transported easily and save manpower, and also is easier to fabricate and construct, thus can reduce the cost.

3. The invention also uses the kraft paper which can be set with colors or patterns or texts, and can be arranged in various assembly types to form the paper furniture in diversified styles to improve visual appeal and enhance ornamental efficacy. Moreover, the multi-layer spool paper and kraft paper formed by pressing can provide improved water-proof effectiveness.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention formed in an embodiment of a chair.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention formed in an embodiment of a chair.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention formed in another embodiment of a cabinet.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention formed in yet another embodiment of a table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper-made composite furniture of the invention comprises at least two connection tubes 2 and at least one spacer 3. Each connection tube 2 is a hollow tube with an inner side made of spool paper and an outer side made of kraft paper. Each connection tube 2 has at least one latch groove 21, and an inner extension 222 at the inner side of the latch groove 21 and an outer extension section 221 at the outer side of the latch groove 21. The inner extension 222 is formed at a width greater than that of the outer extension 221. The spacer 3 is a solid panel made of the spool paper coated by the kraft paper on the outer side thereof. The spacer 3 has two sides 31 wedged respectively in the corresponding latch grooves 21 of the connection tubes 2 to form secure latching.

The spool paper mentioned herein also is called sand tube paper or bobbin fiber paper that is commonly used for making bobbins in textile industry. It is light weight, abrasion-resistant and water-proof in characteristics, hence can improve loading capability and less likely deforms when used to make paper furniture. Since the surface of the spool paper does not absorb water easily, moisture is less likely to enter the inner layer even if it is placed in a damp location, thus can prevent moisture from seeping in and avoid decrease of structural strength of the paper furniture. The kraft paper also is water-proof and has a smooth surface, and also has advantages of easily printed with patterns and coloration, hence can spruce up the substance and appearance of the entire furniture to make it more appealing. The connection tubes 2 and the spacer 3 can be formed respectively by pressing multi-layer spool paper and multi-layer kraft paper. The spool paper and the kraft paper thus formed can withstand pressure and has a higher density, hence can prevent moisture from seeping inside the structure of the paper-made composite furniture of the invention. As a result, the furniture can provide improved support and water-proof efficacy.

By means of the elements set forth above, the connection tubes 2 can be arranged in a spaced manner with the latch grooves 21 facing inward corresponding to each other, then the two sides 31 of the spacer 3 can be wedged in the latch grooves 21 to form a partition-like composite furniture 1.

In another embodiment of the invention, the connection tube 2 a has two latch grooves 21 a on the abutting outer sides that can be incorporated and assembled with the spacers 3 to form various types of furniture, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. By interconnecting the connection tubes 2 and 2 a with the spacers 3 wedged in the latch grooves 21 and 21 a of the connection tubes 2 and 2 a, varying styles of furniture 1A such as chairs can be formed. As the inner extension 222 a of the connection tube 2 a is formed at a width greater than that of the second extension 221 a, the spacer 3 has a greater loading capability in the direction perpendicular to the inner extension 222 a. Moreover, the second extension 221 a of the connection tube 2 a and the coupled spacer 3 form a smaller gap at the upper side of the composite furniture 1A, hence an additional spacer 3 a can be disposed above the spacer 3 to form a smooth surface to provide more comfortable sitting and a neat appearance.

The composite furniture 1 of the invention further includes a plurality of corner joints 4 to couple with the connection tubes 2 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The connection tubes 2 and 2 a are arranged in various styles and coupled with the corner joints 4 to form secure latching and positioning, and the spacers 3 are wedged in the latch grooves 21 and 21 a of the connection tubes 2 and 2 a, thereby other types of composite furniture 1B and 1C such as cabinets or tables can be formed.

The connection tubes 2 and 2 a and the spacers 3 can be assembled with the corner joints 4 to form various configurations and styles according to requirements when in use. The spool paper is lighter in weight and sturdy, hence is easier to transport and assemble and can save manpower, and also can be recycled without creating environmental pollution. Moreover, the kraft paper can be formed with different colors or printed with varying patterns or texts on the surface thereof, thus varying styles of paper-made composite furniture can be formed with greater visual appeal and ornamental efficacy. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper-made composite furniture, comprising at least two connection tubes and at least one spacer coupled together, wherein: each connection tube is a hollow tube including an inner side made of spool paper and an outer side made of kraft paper, and includes at least one latch groove; and the spacer is a solid panel made of the spool paper coated by the kraft paper at an outer side thereof and includes two sides wedged respectively in the latch grooves of the connection tubes; wherein the connection tubes and the spacer are formed respectively by pressing multi-layer spool paper and multi-layer kraft paper together.
 2. The paper-made composite furniture of claim 1, wherein each connection tube includes an inner extension and an outer extension at two sides of the latch groove, the inner extension being formed at a width greater than that of the outer extension.
 3. The paper-made composite furniture of claim 1, wherein the surface of the kraft paper is formed with colors, patterns or texts.
 4. The paper-made composite furniture of claim 1 further including a plurality of corner joints to couple with the connection tubes. 